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3) It's regressive. To the extent the definition protects institutional players, such as consumer review websites and traditional media enterprises, and concomitantly may not protect individual consumers sharing their personal perspectives about the businesses they deal with, the statute is oddly regressive. It favors defendants who are more likely to be able to afford litigation even without anti-SLAPP protection, while leaving the individuals with the least financial capacity without the extra statutory protection. If we're going to choose to favor one group of content producers over another (which we shouldn't), I think this is exactly opposite of the choice we should make.

In light of the upcoming election, the Free Press Act of 2012 probably won't make further progress this calendar year. When Congress does revisit Sen. Kyl's proposal, it should remove the bill's restricted applicability to "representatives of the news media." That way, the statute would apply to all lawsuits based on "an oral or written statement or other expression that is on a matter of public concern or that relates to a public official or figure," regardless of who says it. Given the importance of this type of content, the defendants' identity shouldn't matter.

Either way, I hope Congress revisits anti-SLAPP legislation after the elections. Passing a federal anti-SLAPP law would be one of the quickest and easiest ways for Congress to make a major and lasting improvement to our country.